Job Description

South Wiltshire Intensive Service are looking for an enthusiastic Band 6 Practitioner to join our team. We are based at Fountain Way Hospital in Salisbury.



This is an exciting opportunity, where no 2 days will be the same. As a Band 6 you will need to be comfortable working autonomously in a challenging and changeable environment. You will be welcomed into a supportive, multi-disciplinary team comprised of mental health nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists that are passionate about the care they deliver. The successful candidate will be receive a thorough induction to the team to ensure that they are able to they feel confident in fulfilling their role.



A Band 6 practitioner will be responsible for providing assessment and home treatment to people in personal crisis and/or to prevent hospital admission. You will work with a range of other services, such as community mental health teams, a variety of wards, A&E, Mental Health Liaison and many more to ensure the best care pathway possible for people.



We place huge emphasis on Continued Professional Development and will support staff with attaining further training. Currently, within the team we have individuals that have completed Non-medical prescribing and become DBT accredited.



You will work autonomously to undertake emergency and urgent assessments and have responsibility for care planning and assessing risks with the people we support and their carers to ensure evidence based interventions are delivered in line with the Your Team, Your Conversation, Your Plan.



You will be responsible for the 'gate keeping' function of the team, where assessments are required to review whether hospital admission is indicated or whether home treatment is a safe alternative.



When required, you will work alongside our community mental health team colleagues to provide a 'wrap around' service to support risk reduction plans and prevent the need for hospital admissions.



You will also work with health and social care teams, primary care colleagues, third sector/voluntary agencies, community groups and other statutory agencies.



We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust): a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.



We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.



Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWP are dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. We recognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.



At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend of experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.



To provide comprehensive assessments and Mental State examinations.

Provide Gatekeeping assessments to determine whether an individual can be home treated or needs a hospital admission.

Autonomously coordinate and run shifts if allocated the duty role.

To be able to deliver a wide range of physical health interventions, such as venepuncture, NEWs observation, ECG (training will also be provided) .

Demonstrate good leadership within the team.

Provide supervision to Band 5s and Band 4s.

Show a desire for Continued Professional Development.



This post is open to newly qualified social workers. In line with trust policy, all newly qualified social workers will be recruited initially at Band 5 level, regardless of advertised role banding. All NQSWs are expected to successfully complete their ASYE within 2 years of employment, unless there are exceptional circumstances in which case it may be agreed to extend this for a further 2 years.



On successful completion of the ASYE, for which you will be given full support of an experienced Social Worker as well as Divisional Social Work Lead, and peer support from other ASYE candidates, you will then be eligible to progress to a Band 6 position.



If you have been appointed to an advertised Band 6 role this will be an automatic progression, following confirmation of your successful completion. If you have been appointed to a Band 5 you will then be eligible to apply for a subsequent Band 6 vacancy.